The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1887-09-22
A SINGULAR CASE.
The Annual Effects of Rattlesnake's
Bite

A Williamsport, Pa, dispatch says: On
Aug. %, 1888, a 5-year-old son of George
Putnam, who lives at Stony Ford, Tioga
county, was returning home from driving
the cows to pasture, and stopped by the
roadside to pick some berries. He was bare
footed ana suddenly felt a sharp sting on
the instep of his left foot. He ran crying
home and told his mother that he had
scratched his foot on brier. The foot had
begun TO swell and his mother picked from
the flesh what she at first supposed to be q
brier, but as the foot continued to swell,
and the boys sufferings were intense,
the alarming fact was apparent that
he had been bitten by some poisonous
snake, and that the supposed brier was
one of its fangs that had buried itself in
the wound and been pulled from the snakes
jaw.
Mrs. Putnam called her husband, who
was at work near the house, and alarmed
other members of the family. A live
chicken was cut in two and the warm flesh
applied to the wound Whisky was given
to the boy in large quantities, and mes
senger dispatched for doctor. A member
of the family went to the spot where the
boy said he had felt the sharp sting, and
found a rattlesnake coiled near the road
side. The snake was killed, and one of its
fangs was found to be missing, which left
no doubt of the nature of the boys injury.
The snake was cut open and laid on the
wound i'll the boys foot, which had swollen
to more than double its natural size. The
sufferings of the boy were so great that he
could scarcely be held down in the bed by
two men. The doctor arrived and cauter
lied the wound, but said it was too late,
and that the boy would die.
The swelling had extended UP the leg to
his waist, and the leg became spotted.
Antidotes prescribed by the doctor were
administered, but the whisky treatment
was also adhered to. The boys body
turned black but after three days of the
most terrible agony the swelling began to
90 down, and in a week the victim was able
to get about In months time all the
effects of the poison seemed to have disap-
peared, and the boy was as well as ever.
On Aug 20, 1884, he was seized with a
sharp pain in his foot, which began TO swell,
and in a short time his leg and foot were
swollen to double their size, and became
spotted as they had on the day the boy was
bitten by the snake. He experienced the
same symptoms, and suffered for three days
almost as much agony as he had the year
before When the swelling again went
down the pain subsidized, and the symptoms
disappeared. Regularly on Aug % every
year since the same symptoms have APP
peared, on the authority Of well known
citizen of Tioga county, and their recur-
renee this year was marked by more than
usual pain and swelling, the spots ON the leg
and body strikingly resembling that of a
rattlesnake. The sufferings Of the boy last
week were so intense that he was not ex-
pected 10 pass through them with his life,
but at last accounts he was slowly recover
ing
II is said that there are three similar cases
on record, one of girl who was bitten by n
rattlesnake in Livingston county, N. Y,
thirty years ago, and who for twenty-five
years. ON the anniversary OF the day on
which she was bitten, was subject 10 tho
same symptoms as attended the original
poisoning She died In great agony on the
twenty-hfth recurrence OF the terrible
symptoms.